Another new year with another attempt at making change.
But will it work?

Well here we are again. The year is ending and it’s time to reflect on all the goals I had for myself. Let’s take a look and…oh…well, this is awkward.

All joking aside, you’ve probably noticed that I haven’t been here at all throughout the year. That is because I unfortunately dropped the ball. I could make excuses for “life happening” and what not, but I won’t. I know full well it is my own fault for not following through with what I set out to do a year ago in a similar post. That means many, if not all, of the things I wanted to change or accomplish never happened. While that is incredibly disappointing on my end, I can’t dwell on the past. It happened, and all I can do now is look forward.

That is exactly what I plan to do. Too often I’ve focused on what didn’t work or what went wrong to try and avoid the same mistakes. It hasn’t worked out too great for me. So I’ll acknowledge the failures but continue to move on. I know my track record is against me here, but something in me has changed. I feel more committed to my goals than I ever have and I need to strike while the iron is hot.

It happened, and all I can do now is look forward.

My plan for this website has changed a bit. The ultimate goal is to have this place be the one site to find everything related to my work. At this time that doesn’t seem possible yet. So for now I will use this blog as a way to update everyone in a more detailed manner on what I’m working on each month. Keep people informed on the projects in development, conventions I may be attending, and other art things. I’d also like to write some product review here once in a while. I will also try to update the artwork in my gallery to keep up with my ever evolving skills and style. Basically, I don’t want this website to be stagnant for too long. It needs to be a living and breathing place so all who come here can engage with the content.

The next change was a tough decision, but I’m closing down commissions. The ones I have done before were super fun, but the requests are not consistent enough to remain a top priority. I will still have all the information available on the site and you can always reach out to inquire about them. I just won’t be actively pursuing them like I was trying before. It may come off as selfish, but I want to focus more on the art that I am passionate about creating, like my original comic. More on that another time.

Which leads to the next thing. I’ve had a Ko-fi page for a while but I only updated it on occasion. I want to change that. I’ve decided to start offering memberships there for access to exclusive artwork and see other art related things before anywhere else. It will be the best way to support my creative endeavors outside of artist alley tables at conventions. It is way too expensive for me to run a server on this site to do what I can with Ko-fi, so I will used that in conjunction with my website to see and experience all there is with my work.

I want to focus more on the art that I am passionate about creating.

As for social media, I’m going to take a more relaxed approach to it. I’ve tried so hard to do the right things and follow all the tips and advice to reach more people there, but it just hasn’t worked. So I will still use my Instagram page but it will mostly be to preview what you can find here or on my Ko-fi page. Maybe that will allow me to be more personal there, which may end up being the thing I was missing. Funny if that ends up being the case. We’ll just have to wait and see.

So here we are on the dawn of a new year with familiar goals. But it’s time to pivot and adjust my approach. Will it work? I don’t know. What I do know is things weren’t working before so it is time to mix it up. If I want new and different things to happen then I have to start doing new and different things. Seems pretty simple when put that way. All I know is that no matter what happens, I have to…

Keep Moving Forward

Happy New Year!

January 1, 2023January 3, 2023 by DStankowicz Categories: Deep ThoughtsTags: 2023, art, DavidDraws, drawing, dstankowiczart, goals, keep moving forward, newyear, Thoughts

A fresh start to invigorate an artistic career

Hope you all are enjoying the new year!

Even though we are already just about a month in, I wanted to talk a bit about my game plan going forward with my artwork and this website. Much like every year, I have big plans and aspirations on what I want to accomplish. While I’ve fallen short in the past on many of those goals, I’m hopeful that this year I will change all that.

The year has already started off on a good note. At the beginning of the month, I began a new job as a full time Graphic Designer! I’ve been clamoring a good long while for a creative position like that, so those closest to me will know that a huge weight that I’ve been carrying has been lifted off my shoulders. I quite enjoy graphic design and I’m really liking the job so far, but if you’ve been following me for any amount of time then you’ll know that this isn’t the final destination for my career. My dream is to be able to make a living off my illustrations and character designs. This new job is a great leap in the right direction but I still hunger for that full time illustrator role.

That is one minor downside to this new job. Since it is full time, it has taken a lot of the time away from me working on new and current illustration projects. I’m now in a position where I have to use what ever time I have each day and week to work on artwork as best I can. That means that now there will probably be even longer periods of inactivity both here on my site and the few social media pages I use (which I still hate by the way). I am still drawing and creating whenever I can. If you don’t see or hear from me for a while, just know I’m working on things that are taking longer now that I have limited time throughout the week. The big takeaway here is that I will still be drawing and illustrating because I enjoy it too much and I still want to share my characters and stories with the world. Graphic design is nice, but I still want to be a full time illustrator, so I am continuing to reach for that.

I am still drawing and creating whenever I can

One of the things I hope will strengthen that effort is the way I intend to use this website. I may have stated this before, but I want this site to be the the central hub for all things related to my artwork. In the past I was only really using it as a portfolio site with galleries of some of my better original work and nothing more. Recently, though, I have begun to add other ways to broaden how you view and interact with the website. One of them is the inclusion of this blog, where you can hear news, info, and updates straight from the horses mouth with no limitations. That was a great idea as I now have a way to speak my mind and let you all know what is happening with my artwork in a more direct fashion. The other change I made even more recent is the ability to support my art by selling prints of illustrations, commissioned work, and individual donations. As a goal to make this a one stop shop for anything with my artwork, it just made sense to make these options available here versus using another site like Etsy, Redbubble, Ko-fi, and etc. There is another idea I have planned to try and I’ll be announcing what that is very soon. Stay tuned…

So that is where things are at right now. The year has just begun, and while there have been some big changes already, some things have stayed the same. My desire and passion to keep creating colorful and appealing characters/illustrations has and will never waver. I’m also continuing the development of my comic starring my characters Potato & Bimm so that I can finish it by the end of this year, which is very exciting! Many exciting possibilities that I am optimistic can become a reality. My time has become more scarce now, but all that means is that I need to become more focused than ever before. The visions and goals I’ve set for myself are right in front of me, and to reach them all I have to do is…

Keep Moving Forward!